Improvement in seouldeb-braces



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Inventor.

Witnesses.

*l @uiten tetra @anni @fitta IMPROVEMENT IN SHOULDER-BRAGES.

ALONZO N. sMITH, OF IIALLOWELL, MAINE.

` l Letters .Patent No. 160,582, dated December- 18, 1866.

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TO ALL WHDM 1T MAY CONCERN: I

Be it known that I, ALONZO N. SMITH, of Hallowell, in the'county of Kennebec, and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoulder-Braces; and I hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact descriptionrthereof, which will enable others to make and' use my invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings,lforming part of this specification, in which is illustrated, in a back view, the nature and character of my improvement.

The object of my invention is to produce a new and improved method of increasing or'diminishing the strain of the shoulder-pieces of shoulder-.braces upon the shoulders. Particular reference to the drawings will show in what my invention consists. A

A. Afshow two tags, in which are'made holes for the reception of thelaeings, a; to these tags are attached the,elastic cross-pieces, b the elastic cross-piecesare attached to the back-pieces, B B. These back-pieces are double, having spaces betweenJthetwo thicknesses for the reception of the cross-pieces, 6. The cross-pieces are sewed, or otherwise attach-edt c, as indicated at the double-dotted lines, so as to allow them to stretch freely in the spaces between. the thicknesses. This is indicated by the single-dotted lines. d showsthe elastic-straps, which are buttoned to the back side of the pants; e, the bands passing under the arms;` f, the bands passing around, and h the bands passing over the shoulders; but the straps d, bands c, f, and L, are not the subjects of my claim, neither are the back-pieces B B, as usnallymade. When shoulder-braces-are fitted to a person the buckles regulating the length of the shoulder-straps have to be set in their proper position. Thisis usually effected by having the buckles on the bands e. By this arrangement the arm-size is diminished, the shoulders are drawn downward and backward, and the strain or draught upon them is irksome, and even sometimes painful. In addition to this, the position of the buckles, when the straps are drawn tightly, renders them liable to press .into or ehafe the back; further, in thus fitting braces the strain, when the straps are tightened, is not equal, being more over the shoulders, in a downward direction, than directly and evenly backward. By means of my invention, the pull upon the shoulders is made quite equal at all points, as the brace is fitted by 'drawing` 'nearer to each other the two tags', A A, or allowing them to be wider apart by.means of the lacings a. The

tighteningof thei braces is effected at and toward the centreof the back, the two back-pieces, BB, being moved toward each other with an equal increase of strain upon all the straps attached thereto, and when thejbrace is loosened the strapsare all equally loosened. By 'this arrangement, also, the'arm-size is kept uniform, the shoulders are drawn directly backward, so as to expand the chest as the wishes of the user demand, and not downward, which has a tendency to cause a slight', increasing stoop. Equal ease and elasticity are imparted to the brace, and equal freedom of motion tothe shoulders, by the elastic cross-pieces, b, vworking or stretching and ,contracting in the spaces between the thicknesses of the back-pieces, B B; thus the buckles, also, on the band'sf, and their consequent inconvenience, are dispensed with-` What I-claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isp The combination of the back-pieces B B, made with the spaces, thel elastic cross-pieces b, attached as specified, tags A A, and lacings a, arranged and operating as and for the purposes setforth.

ALONZO N. SMITH.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. CLIFFORD, HENRYl C. HOUSTON. 

